As bigger breaches occur startups focusing on cybersecurity have seen investment double in the last year; globally there was $7.6bn invested in cybersecurity startups this past year after seeing $3.8bn in 2016; global spending on cybersecurity was estimated to be over $80bn in 2017 as companies look to protect their data and company systems from evolving threats. Source.
Micro-lenders in China have brought billions of packaged consumer loans to institutional investors in China; the market this year though may slow due to regulatory scrutiny according industry sources; the current leaders in this space include Ant Financial Services Group as well as groups within JD.com, Baidu, VIPShop Holdings and Xiaomi Technology. Source
According to research from the Financial Conduct Authority, two-thirds of outstanding lending as of November 2016 was to consumers with credit scores in the top 30%; this shows little difference from two years prior as unsecured consumer lending grew at double-digit rates in 2016 and 2017; however data showed that borrowers are staying in debt longer. Source
After a number of high profile breaches in 2017 lenders are looking to better protect themselves against evolving threats; writing a column in Bankless Times Tom Donlea of WhitePages Pro looks at some key things online lenders can do to better protect themselves; lenders can start moving away from using social security numbers as a personal identifier, AI and machine learning will play a bigger role, more lenders will begin to bring fraud fighting in house and blockchain will become more widely adopted. Source.
- Jack Ma Debt Giant Grinds to Halt as China Curbs Micro-Loans
- Jamie Dimon says he regrets calling bitcoin a fraud and believes in the technology behind it
- China is reportedly moving to clamp down on bitcoin miners
- AlphaFlow Appoints Chris Woida As Co-Chief Investment Officer
- Citi unleashes single digital platform for mortgages
- LendingTree Personal Loan Offers Report – December 2017
In a Medium post, Lou Kerner, Partner at CryptoOracle.io shares why they are co-hosting the BlockFin Summit and what attendees can expect from the upcoming event in April; in addition to keynotes and panels, there will be a Vision Stage which will include TED-style presentations. Source
In PeerIQ’s Weekly Industry Update they cover job growth numbers, the Fed’s planned rate rises and more fintech related stories that ended 2017; OneMain Financial received backing from Apollo Global Management and Värde Partners; GreenSky and MoneyLion completed fundraising’s; new regulation news coming out of Indiana that would cap the personal loan interest rates. Source.
Low wage workers have always had a difficult set of expensive options when they try to cash their paychecks; bank accounts are costly because they cannot maintain certain balances and check cashing shops are not exactly cheap; WiseWage, a North Carolina based non profit is looking to offer another option; the company has struck partnerships with Regions Bank and Varo Money, among others, to offer a lower cost direct deposit; the prepaid cards have set fees which can be waived if enough is loaded each month; the program is meant as a test to see if they can enlist those who have dropped out of the financial system because of a lack of options. Source.
Lend Academy discusses the changes to the home equity line of credit tax interest deduction with the new tax law and how it may affect unsecured lenders. Source
AliPay launched a free service this week which allowed users to generate a profile based on their shopping history; users who signed up were automatically enrolled in their credit-scoring system called Sesame Credit unless they unchecked a box; this led to an outcry from users and a subsequent apology from the company; Bloomberg shares how this highlights a broader concern over transparency of user data in the country. Source